What should I do if I find an orphaned baby wild animal wandering about?

People are generally quite humane when it comes to little wild animals. They have a great deal of sympathy for them, especially when they see a baby one. There may be times where a baby animal, such as a squirrel, raccoon, possum, or other little critter has become an orphaned because the mother has been killed by another animal or simply became injured and is unable to care for her young anymore.

When the vast majority of people see animals like this they want to do something for it. They hate to see a poor baby animal like this and want to do something to help the poor animal. This makes many wonder what they should do if they find an orphaned baby wild animal wandering about in their yard?

The first action to take is to make sure that you are safe. Even if they are small, many wild animals carry pathogens such as parasites and diseases that pose a serious risk to you. Even if they do not bite or scratch you they can still pass the diseases onto you simply by coming in contact with you. They can have this in their hair or even in their saliva, and if you come in contact with that you can get sick.

It is for this reason that you must do all you can to protect yourself. If you are finding that the animal needs some help and will not survive without you caring for them, then you want to make sure that you wear clothing that will protect yourself. You should make sure you wear heavy gloves, a surgical mask, goggles, and clothing that covers your exposed skin. This will keep you from getting any kind of illness or parasite from the animal.

Depending upon the animal that you have seen, then you may want to contact animal control right away. If you have found the baby of a fox, coyote, or other animal that can be quite aggressive, you do not want to put yourself at risk. Even if you are wearing clothing to protect yourself, these animals can still endanger you, and a baby animal like this can still attack you. You should seek assistance before taking any kind of action.

If you are forced to take action yourself, you should make sure that you use a trap to capture the animal. This will not only keep you from coming in direction contact with the animal so you protect yourself, but you will also make sure that the animal is protected from other animals.

You should contact animal control or a vet to see what kind of food to feed the animal. It is important to understand that not all wild animals need to be fed the same foods, so you want to check to what you should feed the baby so that it will have the best chance to be successful and grow to maturity.
Read more: Florida Wildlife Control